南开大学2014年考博英语真题

南开大学 2014 年考博英语真题 Section A Directions: Read the following four passages. Answer the questions below each passage by choosing A, B ，C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (40 points，2 points each) Passage One I recently conducted a survey to see what people thought and knew about Martin Luther King, Jr. I did this by bringing up the subject of MLK Day in casual conversations with people and gauging their reaction. (The sampling was 23 friends, colleagues, and strangers； 10 Black, 9 White, 3 Hispanic, 1 Asian ； 4 were between the ages 42 -35 and 19 were 34 -20. ) All knew King as the famous black civil rights leader who was killed, but few knew much more. The majority of people under 30— regardless of race—knew little more, in fact. How is it that Jill (black, 27, college educated) did not know that MLK was a Nobel Peace Prize recipient? Or that Tim (white, 31 ， college educated) was clueless about King’s nonviolent approach to civil rights activism? Darlene (black, 23) thought she should have the day off to sleep in. She had no idea the MLK day is really about doing something to inspire others. What is the point of having a day to mark the man if we do not understand the significance of his life? How is it that not only one of the greatest Americans, but one of the most influential humans in the history of our planet is not better known in this country? Had King been a football player or a musician, he may have registered better with the present generation. Martin Luther King, Jr. was more than just an inspirational black leader. His desire and ability to rise above his own failings and those of fellow humans uplifted us all—both those who were living at the time and those who have come after. Even if we do not know it, our world is a better place because of his light. Dr. King’s life was extinguished more than 30 years ago, but not his light. It is still here for each of us to carry, and to illuminate even brighter with our own unique creativity and contributions. Martin Luther King, Jr. was bom on January 15,1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. After graduating from Morehouse College and becoming a minister, he made his way to Montgomery, Alabama in 1954. This was an important decision for it was in the same city that, on December 1 of the following year, Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white man. King was elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association and led a boycott of Montgomery buses throughout 1956, which brought him national recognition. King’s legacy of non-violent activism was influenced by the teachings of Jesus and Gandhi. King reinforced and expanded his Biblical convictions during a visit to India in 1959, where he studied Gandhi’s methods of non-violent protests during the early 1960’s. A gifted orator, King ignited the world and a generation in the cause for American civil rights with his “I Have a Dream” speech on Aug 28 1963 to a crowd of 250 000 in Washington, D. C. “We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protests to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force” ...“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal. ’’ ...“When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘ Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!，” Dr. King received the Nobel Peace Prize and was named Time magazine’s u Person of the Year” in 1964. In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, he said, “ Non-violence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time: the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Man must evolve for all human conflicts a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love. ’’ King was one of the most extraordinary humans to ever grace our planet. He was a man who met hate and hopeless with love and inspiration. He used non-violence to point out the obscenity of violence. Martin Luther King was gunned down at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on April 4, 1968. Some call it irony. I choose to think of it as his final lesson to us. 1. The Purpose of the author in writing the passage is to . A. condemn the terrorist action of Martin Luther King, Jr.，s assassination B. honor Martin Luther King, Jr. since MLK Day is drawing near C. criticize the present generations for their ignorance of Dr. King D. highlight the significance of the beliefs and spirit of Dr. King 2. “Had King been a football player or a musician, he may have registered better with the present generation. ’’ (Para. 4) can be best interpreted as “ ”. A. King is not remembered by the present generation as a football player or a musician B. The present generation is ignorant of King who gave his life for the peoples of the world C. If King had turned to music or sports he would have been more successful D. It is meaningless to have a day to mark King since he is not famous enough 3. According to Dr. King, what is the solution to major political and moral problems? A. Non-violence. B. Armed struggle. C. Violent activism. D. Believing in God. 4. Which of the following statements about Martin Luther King, Jr. is true? A. His Nobel Prize acceptance speech was the famous “I Have a Dream” speech. B. He was the first one who adopted a non-violent approach in political struggle. C. He had a firm belief in God, which helped to form his non-violent activism. D. He was named 4< Person of the Year” because of his w I Have a Dreamv speech. 5. The overall tone of the article can be best summarized as . A. emotional B. furious C. indifferent D. matter-of-fact Passage Two A few decades ago, it was still possible to leave home and go somewhere else: the architecture was different, the landscape was different, the language, lifestyle, dress, and values were different. That was a time when we could speak of cultural diversity. But with economic globalization, diversity is fast disappearing. The goal of the global economy is that all countries should be homogenized. When global hotel chains advertise to tourists that all their rooms in every city of the world are identical, they don’t mention that the cities are becoming identical too: cars, noise, smog, corporate high-rises, violence, fast food, McDonalds, Nikes, Levis, Barbie Dolls, American TV and film. What，s the point of leaving home? There are many causes for this dreary turn of events, but one is central: economic globalization and institutions like the World Bank and the WTO promote a specific kind of homogenizing development that frees the largest corporations in the world to invest and operate in every market, everywhere. For these agencies and corporation, diversity is not a primary value: efficiency is. Diversity is an enemy because it requires differentiated sales appeal. What corporations love is creating the same values，the same tastes, using the same advertising, selling the same products, and driving out small local competitors. Mass marketers prefer homogenized consumers. They also prefer places with low wages, cheap resources, and the least restrictive environmental and labor laws. The new rules of global trade are primarily set by the ultra-secretive World Trade Organization (WTO), which now rivals the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the most powerful, yet undemocratic body in the world. Its rules are specifically designed to serve global corporate expansion and the homogenization process. They make it nearly impossible for nation-states to prevent certain harmful forms of corporate development, no matter what problems they bring. So we find that European bankers can dominate Third World economies ； Asian companies can cut down Canadian and Brazilian forests ； American corporations can dominate the whole world’s farmers and food supply ； Disney can homogenize consciousness and McDonalds can homogenize tastes, globally. Every country loses while global corporations win. Corporate invasions into diverse cultures often occur over vigorous protests by local governments and populations that try to protect local business, culture, health, food safety, and local livelihoods. Not everyone wants to become like everyone else. ( More than one million of India’s small farmers protested against the entry of industrial agriculture, specifically Cargill Corporation and Kentucky Fried Chicken. ) Millions of others have protested against the invasion and promotion of genetically engineered foods which are destroying local livelihoods and threatening public health. But when countries try to slow down these corporate invasions—or create laws that protect local resources, or jobs, or health standards 一 they may find the laws challenged at the WTO as illegal restrictions against foreign investment. In fact, a recently proposed addition to the WTO would make it nearly impossible for any country to prevent imports of biotech food products— despite public concern over health aspects. Meanwhile, all places are starting to merge. In rural France, local cheese farms are sucked up by giant agribusiness. In England, small towns in the countryside have high-speed freeways and trucks jamming through them despite mass opposition. Rice paddies in Bali are turned into hotel resorts. Small farms in Japan become executive golf courses. Small businesses and retail shops everywhere, including the U. S. , are being driven under by untaxed e-commerce, which the WTO may soon codify. Nepalese villages have Sylvester Stallone on their billboards, Barbie in their stores, and Jay Leno on their TV sets. Every place is becoming everyplace else: monoculture. “Get there before it’s ruined. ” Is this a familiar phrase? Is this a system you want? If globalization homogenizes cultures, its effect on Nature is just as bad. With every country pressured to open up its forests, minerals, water, and land to global corporations, the few pristine places are disappearing fast. So are the native people who live in them. So are the animals, plants and biota …the biodiversity of the planet. ( Brazil, for example, recently suspended its environmental laws, so that Amazon forests can be cut down faster to help the country pay off IMF debts.) Meanwhile, industrial forestry practices, like clear-cutting, produce landscapes so barren that it’s hard to know if it’s the Amazon or Oregon ； landscapes of tree stumps look alike wherever they are. This is monoculture too. Biodiversity is disappearing as fast as cultural diversity. Here’s the rationale for all this: By serving the needs of global business, everyone benefits. “A rising tide lifts all boats. ’’ Is this true? While CEO salaries for global corporations are rising—some make $ 50 - 500 million annually—worldwide, real wages for most people are falling. According to the U. N. , the gaps between rich and poor within countries and among countries, has grown because of the inequities of global trade. Even in the U. S. , the median wage of factory workers has fallen by 10% in the last two decades. And, England now advertises that its workers are the lowest paid in Europe. Low wages are suddenly virtuous. Apparently, the rising tide lifts mainly yachts. The global economy is designed to benefit the largest corporations in the world, who are getting rapidly larger and more dominant. Already some corporations are bigger in economic terms than most nation states. Mitsubishi is the 22nd largest economy in the world. General Motors is 26th. Ford is 31st. They are larger than Denmark, Thailand, Turkey, Norway, Greece, Chile, Brazil, New Zealand and dozens of others. What can we do? Dozens of good organizations are working on these issues. This year, most are focused on the